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. u..' Y IN THREE MOVEMENTS
STRAVINSKY/
BALAN CHINE
The Collaboration
NOW THROUGH SEPTEMBER 30
Honoring one of the 20th Century's
greatest creative collaborations,
NYCB presents 12 Stravinsky/
Balanchine ballets in a two-week
period, chronicling an unparalleled
partnership and the works that
continue to exhilarate.
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$29
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nycballet.com or 212-496-0600
Photos 0 Paul Kolnik
12
THE NEW YORKER, OCTOBER 1,2012
painter lived in, worked in, or painted-and the pho-
tographer's approach is as restrained, precise, and
chilly as Wyeth's. The painter was a key early influ-
ence on Welling, so this is a sincere and meditative
homage, alternating detailed views of an easel, a
whitewashed plaster wall, and a bookshelf (Eakins,
Dürer, Hopper) with broad vistas. Six big and splashy
abstract photographs introduce the series, like fire-
works before a string quartet. Through Oct. 27.
(Zwirner, 533 W. 19th St. 212-727-2070.)
Short List
JONAH FREEMAN AND JUSTIN LOWE: Marl-
borough, 545 W. 25th St. 212-463-8634. Through
Oct. 27. SARAH OPPENHEIMER: P.P.O.W, 535
W. 22nd St. 212-647-1044. Through Oct. 13.
LUCAS SAMARAS: Pace, 508 W. 25th St. 212-
255-4044. Opens Sept. 28. LYNETTE YIADOM-
BOAKYE: Shainman, 513 W. 20th St. 212-645-
1701. Through Oct. 13. "AFTER THE FALL: THE
LURE OF PARIS": Howard, 525 W. 26th St. 212-
695-0164. Through Dec. 3.
GALLERIES-DOWNTOWN
ARA DYMOND I JESSE WILLENBRING
In this overcrowded, if appealing, two-person show,
the eye ricochets between Dymond's jocular sculptures
opted home of New York. But, by all rights, this fas-
cinating mini-survey will change that. Kogelnik's spir-
ited brand of Pop-feminist figuration-neon colors,
mod patterns-dovetails with the renewed interest
in artists like Evelyne Axell and Dorothy Iannone.
Kogelnik was fascinated by rocket ships and robots,
and her imagery favors androgynous silhouettes. In
one dynamic work, a hand outlined in orange seems
to sprinkle bodies into a vibrating stratosphere.
Through Oct. 28. (Subal, 131 Bowery, at Grand St.
917-334-1147.)
Short List
RAY AKDOGAN: Abreu, 36 Orchard St. 212-
995-1774. Through Oct. 14. KERSTIN BRÄTSCH I
THOMAS BA YRLE: Brown, 620 Greenwich St.
212-627-5258. Opens Sept. 29. BEVERLY SEMMES I
FREDDIE BRICE: Schuss, 34 Orchard St. 212-219-
9918. Through Oct. 28. MARY WEATHERFORD:
Brennan & Griffin, 55 Delancey St. 212-227-
0115. Through Oct. 14.
DANCE
NEW YORK CITY BALLET
The Stravinsky/Balanchine retrospective contin-
ues with two performances of a Russian-themed
program ("Firebird," "Divertimento from 'Le Baiser
TABLES FOR TWO
MISSION CHINESE FOOD
154 Orchard St. (212-529-8800)-Danny Bowien, the
thirty-year-old Korean-born chef and main owner of
Mission Chinese Food, grew up in Oklahoma eating
the Chinese dishes of Middle America, fried rice and
10 mein. After stints at white-tablecloth restaurants in
New York and San Francisco, Bowien wanted to cook
at a place where he and his friends would actually eat
on their day off, i.e., cheap and gutsy: He started ex-
perimenting-tasting his way through San Francisco's
Chinatown-and took over an existing Chinese joint
in the Mission district, which went on to incite wide-
spread cultish devotion. For his much ballyhooed out-
post here, he chose a curious Lower East Side space
that has housed more than one failed Asian expan-
sion project (Bia Garden, Rhong- Tiam). The room,
down a dim hallwaylkitchen-viewing galle)', isn't much
to look at-Chinese propaganda poster, big gold
dragon--but it doesn't matte.!; because the food is the
star of the show.
Bowien took cues from the tried-and-true tradition
of greasy Chinese-American food and one-upped it for
some of his best dishes: Kung Pao Pastrami (house-
smoked meat, celery, peanuts, red hot chilis); Thrice
Cooked Bacon (poached, steamed, and wok -fried- "It's
like super-bacon," an ardent fan marvelled); Broccoli
Beef Brisket (fat-laced slabs of brisket and Chinese broc-
coli, doused in garlicky smoked-oyster sauce). The heat
of Mapo Tofu-large cubes of silken bean curd tossed
with equally large hunks of pork shoulder-spreads
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154
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like fire in your mouth and stays awhile. Bowien's spic-
iest dishes inspire discussions of various hot peppers:
"Like, you know, that black one. The one that coats
your mouth and numbs it, like novocaine," one mem-
ber of Bowien's target audience mused. "Married Cou-
ple's" Beef (tongue, heart, and tripe) produced a split
decision- "It's kind of cold and slimy, right?" a woman
said with a "yuck" face, to which her husband replied,
"Mmm, so soft." Excellent lamb breast, with a crunchy
cumin crust, served with pickled beans and charred
dates, comes on little bones, good for picking up and
gnawing-a delicate treat for Bamm-Bamm Rubble.
The food assaults, and yet kindness abounds. The
nearly inevitable wait for dinner (two or three hours
at prime time, unless you e-mail ahead for a reserva-
tion) is made more pleasant by a free kegger. The res-
taurant donates seventy-five cents from every entrée
to the Food Bank for New York City. The general
manager, making the rounds one evening, talked about
answering a Craigslist ad that stated, "Must speak
Cantonese" (originally, there were to be Cantonese
cooks, but it didn't end up that way), which led to
a couple of weeks in San Francisco, to learn the ropes.
When asked about the difference between New York
and San Francisco patrons, he demurred: "New York-
ers are nicer." (Open for lunch and dinner every day
but Wednesday. Large dishes $6-$15.)
-Shauna Lyon
made of synthetic materials and Willenbring's screen-
printed doodles on wood. Several of Dymond's lime-
green and pink plinths display images of absurdly cute
dogs printed on aluminum cutouts; others sport dig-
itally carved designs reportedly inspired by Lucio Fon-
tana. One catchy drawing, sketched by Willenbring
straight onto the wall, repeats a motif of overlapping
light bulbs-an A.D.H.D. bright idea. Through Oct.
14. (Gitlen, 261 Broome St. 212-274-0761.)
KIKI KOGELNIK
The artist, who died in 1997, at the age of sixty-two,
is better known in her native Austria than in her ad-
de la Fée"'), along with a mixed bill of so-called
"leotard ballets" (Sept. 26 and Sept. 29-30). These
spare, modernist works embody the essence of
N.Y.C.B.: limpid compositions in which the move-
ment reflects the inner workings of the music.
"Stravinsky Violin Concerto" contains dabs of
Russian folk color and an intricate pas de deux;
"Monumentum pro Gesualdo" is courtly and
grave; "Duo Concertant" is playful and sentimen-
tal. + Sept. 26 at 7:30, Sept. 29 at 2 and 8, and
Sept. 30 at 3: "Stravinsky Violin Concerto," "Mon-
umentum pro Gesualdo," "Movements for Piano
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